


Before The Storm

by crissy_writes_garbage



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Crack, F/M, Genin Era, blank period sasusaku
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2019-11-28 09:35:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18206705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crissy_writes_garbage/pseuds/crissy_writes_garbage
Summary: Sakura is pregnant and lost, a combination that leads to more trouble than necessary. Specially when you're lost in the past.





	1. Meet-up

Sakura wasn’t sure how she ended up in the middle of the forest.

 

 

 

Yet there she was.

 

 

 

The heat was relentless and very unexpected as she had just been on her way back to the village in the middle of a cold winter day. She blinked once, twice and then looked at her surroundings.

 

Was this a genjutsu? Her hands automatically going through the signs before yelling ‘release’.

 

Nothing.

 

She tried it again. Still nothing changed.

  


She released a defeated breath and jumped on the tree branches, trying to find any type of landmark that would give her a clue of where she was. She needed to figure out her location, and possibly where her husband was too. He’s more than likely panicking and going through every portal to find her.

  


 

The kunoichi walked down the road, there was no use staying in one place. Even if Sasuke came to wherever she currently is, it would take him some time to find her. The summer heat, winter cape with the hood on, and pregnant belly made her way to uncomfortable to just wait wherever she landed.

 

Spotting a waterfall nearby she started to walk towards it, she could wait there under a tree and also refill the flask she was carrying. Still unsure of where in the world she had landed, she kept going, keeping an eye out for any type of recognizable landmark.

  
  


 

 

A laugh caught her attention.

 

 

 

It was Naruto’s laugh, except he sounded younger, his voice still raspy but not quite as low in tone. Sakura hid herself behind a tree, suppressing her chakra signature. She took out a pocket mirror she was carrying and pointed it towards where she had heard Naruto’s voice, then Kakashi’s, Sasuke’s and finally her own voice. In the mirror, she saw a very old memory of her genin days.

 

Naruto and Sasuke were having yet another contest, probably chakra control related, her younger self was watching from the shore, cheering on Sasuke as she usually did.

 

Sakura cringed, she knew she hadn’t been subtle but she didn’t realize how much of a fangirl she still was even after her vow in the forest of death.

  


 

One, two, three … where was Kakashi?

  


“Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t slit your throat.” The tip of his sharp kunai pressed against her carotid artery. She put her hands up and dropped her mirror, Sakura could feel his Sharingan on her. She wasn’t scared, but she was pregnant, and even if she knows she could give her old sensei a run for his money in a fight, she was still pregnant and she was not gonna risk her daughter’s life and her own.

  


Still, she wasn’t sure how to approach the situation, he wouldn’t believe her if she told him the truth and he would know if she was lying, so she had to compromise. Her back still to him, she answered “I was looking for a place to rest when I heard noise. I didn’t want to risk being attacked so I tried to check out the voices before approaching.”

  


His weapon never wavered. With the kunai still to her throat, he pushed her towards the lake, getting the attention of the genins, all immediately on high alert with their own weapons out. They ran to surround her, blocking her back and frontwards paths.

 

“Who are you” Sasuke demanded with his sharingan activated. “Just a traveler.” His scowl deepened, “Where are you from?”

 

“Can’t say.”

 

“Pretty suspicious answer from a traveler don’t you think?” Kakashi retorted, “Identify yourself before it gets ugly.”

 

Dimensional travel was still a new concept to analyze, she wasn’t sure if this was another world where everyone is younger or if maybe she was pushed back into her genin days.

 

One thing was clear in her mind, revealing too much might tamper with both this world and hers.

  


Naruto’s impatience makes him lounge at her before the rest of his team can react, “Time’s up lady!” Sasuke hot on his tail and her younger self hangs behind them like she always did.

  


 

At seven months pregnant Sakura couldn’t fight since they could hurt her daughter, plus her center of gravity was tilted and her stamina was frustratingly shorter. Thinking on her feet, she positions herself in a defensive stance, taking note of where Kakashi was while timing her distraction. Just as Naruto jumped to land a blow on her, Sakura shatters the terrain with her fist, leaves a substitute clone behind to buy herself some time and runs away in the smoke and mayhem.

 

 

She runs until she’s sure there is enough distance between them, only stopping when her breath begins to fail her.

 

 

Assuming that this team seven behaves like her own did back then, Sakura knows it’ll be a matter of time till they give up. She hadn’t attacked them and she also didn’t possess a threat to them. Or they go after her, because she’s suspicious and had spied on them and could try to come back and kill them.

  


 

“Katon: Grand Fireball jutsu” She guessed she had gotten her answer.

 

Sakura manages to jump away from the flames but the back of her hood gets pinned to a tree by genin Sasuke’s kunai. He’d always had good aim, and he was ready to throw his fatal shot already. Before that happens, Kakashi grips the hand with the weapon and signals him to stand down.

  


 

Sakura didn’t know why they had stopped, but she was glad they had done so. The two missing pairs of footsteps finally catching up, Naruto gasps “I didn’t know you had an older sister Sakura-chan!”

 

 

 

 

“I… don’t.”


	2. The Language of Flowers

Sakura was traveling with them.

 

 

At the very least she wasn’t being chased down, but it was still quite weird to interact with  younger versions of people she knew, and were important to her, without it being a memory or a dream. After a very … tense explanation, they decided to believe her, but she could see the distrust in Kakashi’s eyes regardless. Sakura talked it up to shinobi instinct, but the familiarity of his dismissive gaze still made her uneasy.

 

Team seven were on their way back to the village from a mission, they didn’t give her details and she didn’t mind. The less she knew about them the better, she didn’t want to mess with the flow of time more than she already has. If she guessed right, they were about a week and a half away from their destination, which was good news for her since there was a smaller chance for people to see her.

 

 

The sun started to set down and they took that as a cue to start camping for the night. 

  
  


 

Sasuke and Naruto had gone to hunt fish for the night, genin Sakura went to see if she could find any berries or roots to eat, and Kakashi stayed behind with her to make a fire. Sakura tried to help by getting the sleeping bags ready but Kakashi wouldn’t let her touch anything that wasn’t hers.

 

Safety first, it wasn’t personal.

 

She really wanted to make herself believe that.

  
  


 

 

Once they started serving dinner the mood shifted into a more relaxed one, no one talked just yet but she appreciated the quietness. Sakura could see the questions and the tension her younger counterpart had in her eyes, she always let her emotions show and although it’s seen as a weakness for ninjas to do so, Sakura learned it made her stronger. 

 

“Ask”

 

Genin Sakura’s grip of her plate faltered slightly, her cheeks heated up, not expecting the attention. “E-excuse me?”

 

“I know you have a lot of questions, so just ask me.” she smiled, seeing her younger-self relax a bit. Letting out a nervous breath of air, she asked her first question 

“What path did you choose?”

 

“I’m a battlefield medical ninja”

 

“How did you become so strong?”

 

“I got a proper teacher-” Kakashi shifted uncomfortably “-and Master who taught me everything I know.” 

 

“And the seal?”

 

“It’s a testament of my strength and power.” Genin Sakura smiled. Naruto gasped loudly, “So then you’re very strong Sakura-chan?” She nodded. “I may not be able to do the things my husband does, but strength comes in different ways.”

 

Four pairs of eyes focused on her.

 

Sakura blinked, “Yes?”

 

“Sakura-chan… You’re married?” Sakura drank her tea, looking away. Naruto didn’t back down “Do we know him?” She continued eating her meal. “Am I-”

 

“Shut up dumbass! You’re being annoying!” Sasuke kicked Naruto off the log, a deep scowl on his face. He crossed his arms and huffed, the blonde stood up quickly and pulled the Uchiha’s collar “You damn jerk do you want me to beat you to a pulp?!”

 

“You couldn’t even if you tried hay for brains.”

 

“Wanna test that you bastard?!”

 

The younger kunoichi pulled Naruto away from the back of his jacket, and forced him to sit down. “Stop! Both of you!”

 

“He’s the one that started it!”

 

“I don’t care! Stop fighting!”

 

 

Kakashi cleared his throat, getting his student’s attention. “I’m giving you all an hour to finish getting ready before lights out, Naruto you take first watch. I’ll get second, and then Sasuke gets third.” Which meant that both Sakura’s will not be taking a turn.

 

Which meant Sakura was still not enough in their eyes. She gritted her teeth and stood up.

 

“Where are you going?” 

 

“For a walk,” She extended her hand towards her younger-self, “Wanna join me?”

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The forest path was beautiful, the moonlight sneaked through the gaps in the canopy, and the breeze helped cool her skin down from the merciless heat of the afternoon. They were quiet, she didn’t know why she asked her to join her walk- 

 

That’s a lie, she knew exactly why.

 

Because she has gone through that experience her entire time in Team Seven. Because no matter her intellect, or how good she was at genjutsu, or how impressive her chakra control was, she still wasn’t good enough in their eyes. It took Sasuke’s betrayal, and her honed skills in medical ninjutsu and taijutsu for her teammates and team leader to see her as more than just a civilian girl that always needed protection.

 

Because Kakashi still saw her as just another Rin waiting to happen, and he would rather neglect her as a student than let her get hurt.

 

And it made her furious.

 

Sakura tried to calm herself down, looking once again to their surroundings. She took a bit longer when she looked at the girl besides her, smaller, younger, not yet sharp at the edges. She looked nervous and unsure, and she was holding herself back.

 

“Something on your mind Sakura?”

 

“Um…” the younger kunoichi casted her eyes on the floor. “I’m sorry.” Sakura blinked. 

 

“What?”

 

Genin Sakura kept her eyes on the ground, fidgeting her hands. “I’m sorry, you had to see the bickering. I wish I could have done more to make them stop, but I don’t think they’ll ever listen to me.” she chuckled pathetically. The older one frowned, “Why would you say that?” The younger one kept a tight smile on her face, “That’s just how things are, I bet if I… n-nevermind, forget I said anything.” She picked up her pace, but Sakura was faster and catched her by her wrist.

 

“Turn around.”

 

She tried pulling her hand away to no avail.

 

“Come on, turn around.” a minute passed, she turned and looked up to face her, defeat written on her face.

 

Sakura held her genin-self’s hand tenderly, “Sakura. Why do you think you’re in this team?” her twelve year old shrugged. “Don’t give me that, answer: why are you in team seven?”

 

“... They needed a third student, and I got lucky enough to be chosen.”

 

“Is that all you want to be? Just another kunoichi in a three-men cell?”

 

“I just- I-...” young sakura gulped. “What else is there for me to be?”

 

They had reached a clearing filled with flowers, the older of the two took her cape off and tried laying it down but her center of gravity made it hard to do so. The younger one took it upon herself to lay it down and help her older-counterpart to sit down with her, the youngest of the two finally noticing the baby bump. “You’re traveling around the world and you’re pregnant? Isn’t that dangerous?”

 

“Maybe for most women, but not for me.”

 

“That’s a little cocky.”

 

“I’m allowed to be cocky, I’m growing a life inside of me and I have created canyons with my very hands.”

 

The younger of the two started playing with the grass, “Are you always this confident?”

 

“No.” She pulled her young self closer to her, “I wasn’t born with my strength, I had to work for it.”

 

“I was also a scrawny looking girl with a  big-forehead when I was twelve. My teammates also couldn’t stand each other, but even then they were closer with each other, I was always at the background.” her hands grabbed hers and she held on tight, grounding her, ”The boy I loved never paid me any attention, and my team leader never bothered to teach me anything, because I wasn’t like my boys.” The younger one kept her head down, “I wasn’t born special or with a legacy. I was given a blank canvas to work with, and I was free to do whatever I wanted with it.”

 

She squeezed her hand, “What will you do with yours?”

 

“Do you really think I… that I will... be more than just me?”

 

“You will always be you. All that’s left to do is make sure you leave your mark in the world. So that you will never just be ‘another kunoichi’, but instead Haruno Sakura, a proud kunoichi of Konoha.” 

 

They smiled at each other and Sakura saw the missing light coming back to those young green eyes.

 

She gave her hope.

 

The older of the two stretched her arms, yawning. “I guess we should start heading back if we want to make it in time. Come, I need a good rest! By back is killing me and my feet hurt too!”

 

The younger one chuckled, “You sound like a grandma!”

 

“I’m pregnant! I can sound however old I please!”


	3. Orange Sunrise

After her talk with her younger self, both Sakura’s returned to the campsite. They shared a comforting look and went lay down on their own sleeping bags. Sakura slept soundly through the night, they hadn’t let either of them take a night shift for lookout but she didn’t mind. She needed all the sleep she could get, seven months of pregnancy mean an alert baby and this baby liked to move and react to everything. 

  
  


Especially at night.

  
  


That’s how Sakura found herself waking up early in the morning, with a very shark kick to a kidney. Or more accurately, **because** of the very sharp kick to her kidney. “Oh? Sakura-chan you okay?” Naruto quickly moved to her side and helped her sit up, she guessed it was his turn to take guard while everyone else slept. His intentions had been sincere, but the quick speed made her head spin more. The blonde gasped, noticing her swollen belly.

 

 Reason being that although they had been traveling for an entire day, Sakura never mentioned she was pregnant. The cape also helped hide her bump and even if it was her first pregnancy, she didn’t show as much as other women did. Sure, she had dealt with swollen feet for a couple days, and the morning sickness gets to her when certain smells are around her, but nevertheless she could call it a fairly smooth pregnancy.

 

Sakura knew that the less they knew the better, time-travel or dimension jumping, knowing too much would cause trouble later on. 

 

But she kept slipping on her one, self-imposed rule, which was becoming rather annoying.

 

“You- you’re- your-!” She put a hand on his mouth, silencing him. “Shhh! You’re going to wake the others up. Calm down okay?” He nodded vigorously. She moved her hand away and sighed, putting a hand over her stomach and rubbing it. Naruto leaned closer, whispering “Are you okay Sakura-chan?”

 

She nodded with a smile, “Are you sure?” his eyebrows furrowed, “You look like you’re in pain!” Sakura hummed, “Only a little, but I can take it no problem. This baby is just very hyperactive at night.” she whispered back, the blond’s face contorted in awe. “Are you going to be a mom soon Sakura-chan?” She nodded again.

 

He gave her a very soft smile, “So, in the future, you’re building a family… That’s… I’m very happy for Sakura-chan.” 

 

She knew that look, she saw it every time he remembered what was taken from him before he even opened his eyes for the first time. 

 

She would forget sometimes that Naruto was an orphan, it was hard to even think about it. Her Naruto was cheerful and ambitious, his determination and willpower made him stand so tall. He is always surrounded by loved ones, by bonds he built as he grew up. The Naruto she knew had gained a family, and he was also going to start one of his own with Hinata. The last she exchanged letters with him, she found out he was going to have a baby boy.

  
  


Seeing him as a 12 year old Genin, it forcefully reminded her of how lonely he had actually been in his childhood. The hardships he had to go through, the many breaking points he had faced and conquered, too many times where even she would belittle and ridicule him.

 

Her heart ached painfully. “You know Naruto, not all families are built the same.” Blue eyes looked up at her, “Some are made of a mother and a father and their kids, some families are made of a group of close friends, others are couples raising a child who isn’t their own, some are just one parent taking care of their child on their own. Blood bonds are not the only ones that are strong.” 

 

His eyes were wide open, “...Really?” She nodded again, opening her arms. Naruto wasn’t sure at first why she did so, affection was still so foreign to him. She gave him a sympathetic smile, leaning closer to him and wrapping her arms around his small frame. He timidly wrapped his arms around her growing torso, gently as if scared he would hurt her if he hugged her harder.

 

Sakura pet his blonde hair, her voice was soft when she spoke “Keep living as you currently are Naruto, you’re not alone in the world. I will always support you, I promise.” He stilled for a bit in her arms. He wasn’t used to this, he grew up with disapproving glances from the elders and curses or threats from adults. Even his classmates don’t see him as anything more than an annoyance. 

 

Neglected. Ignored. Alone.

 

She wasn’t gonna let him keep living like that any longer.

  
  


“Ouch! What was that for?!” Naruto moved back and held his stomach in discomfort. A very deep frown on his face.

 

Sakura laid a hand where her baby had kicked, wincing at the discomfort. “I think she is also saying that she’ll support you too,” she joked. Naruto was in awe, “Woah, you can tell that?” The pink kunoichi hummed, agreeing “Alright, no more frowns.” she pushed herself up as far as she could, the blonde genin helped her stand up to her full height. “Let’s start breakfast.”

 

Naruto smiled, “Alright, breakfast!” he exclaimed loudly while throwing a fist at the air. A pillow hit him square in the face, “Shut.  **_up_ ** . Naruto.” threatened a barely awake Sasuke. Sakura couldn’t help but chuckle, no matter the years that passed the Uchiha will always hate being woken up. 

 

Sasuke’s face blushed a pale pink at the sound. He got up and started to put his sleeping bag away, probably to hide his embarrassment if she were to guess. 

 

A soft yawn came from Sakura’s right, her younger self was barely waking up too due to the commotion. She stretched her arms, a barely audible ‘morning’ coming from her lips, she too got up to start the day.

 

The oldest kunoichi looked upwards, staring directly on a hidden branch from the tall tree across from her. She smiled and mouthed a ‘Good Morning Sensei’ to Kakashi, turned and walked with the young blond boy towards the nearest body of water. Leaving a still skeptical grey haired shinobi even more wary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I wanted to finish this chapter way earlier than this but alas, inspiration for a good ending didn't come till today. Thank you to anyone who waits for this fic to update, I'm having a lot of fun exploring these characters and thinking of ways of how would they react to these certain situations. 
> 
> I do want to give a heads up, this fic is not gonna be long at all. You might have already noticed, but I want each chapter to be focused on each member of team 7, and we are running out of members very quick. Plus, Sasuke would probably go bananas if he goes without seeing his pregnant wife for longer than a day. 
> 
> I'd also like to take this time to announce that I have yet another Sakura-centric fic on the works. I'm planning on making that one way longer than this one, and I'd like to think that the premises for it are super interesting, so please look forward to that!


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